Pillows, cushions, pillow cases or the like



July 10, 1962 R. w. LAWSON 3,042,938

PILLOWS, CUSHIONS, PILLOW CASES OR THE LIKE Filec'l May 25, 1959 Iffi'fi IIITW IIIIWIfiTW IIIIII I IIIiIIIIIIIIIiT IIIII I In IIII IIIIIT H IIII I IIII I III] IIIIIT\0\ W III I IIII I IIII I II I IIII I REG/M441 M Law on Inventor A lforn e y United States Patent 3,042,938 EILLOWS, CUSHEGNS, PILLOW CASES OR THE LHiE Reginald Wyatt Lawson, 91 London Lane, Bromley, Kent, England Filed May 25, 1959, Ser. No. 815,579 Claims priority, application Great Britain May 28, 1958 l Glaim. (Cl. -337) This invention relates to pillows, cushions, pillow cases or the like and has for its object to provide articles of this character with means whereby a satisfactory air flow and fouled air dispersion is immediate from any point of contact of the user, the pillow or the like being particularly for use for babies, young children, invalids and so forth.

As is well know, many accidents by suffocation are caused by reason of lack of airflow when using ordinary pillows.

According to the present invention a pillow, cushion, pillow case or the like, is provided with interconnected holes or passages which pass through the pillow or the like and are open at all the outer faces of the pillow or the like.

The pillow or the like may be formed by resilient material such as polythene, india-rubber, or resilient plastic material.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cushion.

FIG. 2 is an end view of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively, a plan view and an end view of a second form of construction.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a third form of construction and,

FIG. 6 is a section on the line VI-VI of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, suitable material such as a block I1 of india-rubber, polythene, or plastic of a suitable density and size, such as 14 inches x 14 inches X 2 to 3 inches for pillows, and 2 feet 6 inches x 1 foot 6 inches X 3 to 6 inches for cushions, is provided with holes 2, 3 which experiment has shown are preferably not less than 5 of an inch in diameter and not more than of an inch apart, depending on the resiliency and bearancy of the material used. The holes 2, 3 are interconnected with one another throughout the length, depth and breadth of the material, as otherwise the purpose of the invention would not be achieved.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cushion is formed by elements 5, 6 of an impermeable material of suitable structure, preferably polythene, rubber or other suitable plastic material. The elements 5, 6 are arranged at right-angles to one another and are secured together by stitching or the like at the points at which they cross one another.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, suitable folded lengths or layers of an impermeable material ofsuitable texture, preferably of polythene, rubber or plastic material, are arranged in a homogeneous openwork mass or crisscross manner to the desired thickness, so as to form a honeycomb structure of interconnected tunnels, the lengths or layers 10 being of a suitable size and thickness. The structure thus formed is covered with a thin ice layer 11 of perforated, openwork construction, or'sufficiently porous rubber, polythene or the like, enclosed in a sufficiently porous covering 12.

A polythene mono-filament yarn of suitable resiliency may be knitted or woven in a stocking or such-like openwork stitch, into a bag or case of suitable size, such bag to be filled to the desired thickness with a similar material, not necessarily knitted but so arranged as to assure a free passage or disperion of air throughout. One way of doing this would be by crimping the yarn to be used as interior filling or stufiing, the whole to be covered in a sufficiently openwork ticking of material having similar impermeable properties as suitably processed polythene monofilament, the fibres sold under the Registered Trade Marks Cour-lene and Courlene X3, or the like, of openwork constructions: a Courlene or Courlene X3 curtain net has been found to be satisfactory for this purpose.

A pillow so constructed and of such materials, being water-resistant, does not swell or shrink, can be washed and dried quickly, it is rot-proof, mothproof, non-toxic and unaffected by insects or bacteria. Further, such a construction greatly assists in preventing discomfiture in cases of perspiration of the user in contact with the pillow, the immense volume of distributed air causing quick evaporation of moisture by virtue of the slightest movement of a child or user causing a gentle air flow or displacement at the pillow surface and throughout the pillow. A pillow or the like so constructed, constitutes an excellent insulator acquiring body temperature almost instantly, no artificial warming before use being necessary.

In all cases the porosity of the pillow or the like is such as to be sufiicient to prevent a babys dribblings or the like from blocking the pores and preventing the free flow and dispersion of air.

It will be understood that an ordinary closely woven pillowslip would be entirely inadequate or unsatisfactory in conjunction with the pillow as above described. Only a pillowslip constructed of openwork design, polythene, Courlene, or the like, curtain net or the like, is satisfactory.

I claim:

A sanitary pillow insuring free flow of air and passage of secretions of the nose and mouth, comprising, in combination, a homogeneous openwork criss-cross mass of impermeable, resilient, plastic material providing a wash-able, unshrinkable honeycomb structure of interconnecting air tunnels connected throughout the length and breadth of the pillow, a network of elongated loops of plastic material for holding the said criss-cross mass in shape, and a cover of porous material enclosing and concealing said criss-cross mass and said loops.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,922,228 Brown Aug. 15, 1933 2,012,042 Gerlofson et al Aug. 20, 1935 2,029,370 Heldenbrand Feb. 4, 1936 2,298,218 Madson Oct. 6, 1942 2,315,391 Blair Mar. 30, 1943 2,371,788 Weeber Mar. 20, 1945 2,612,966 Nicol Oct. 7, 1952 2,956,291 Hauptman Oct. 18, 1960 

